The outlaws are still killing them.

What percentage of deer do yall think were legally killed in this state this past year? I don’t mean the game check numbers either, I mean all kills. Completely legal: had a license and bait permit (if required), proper season, game checked on land you had permission or public in season. My guess is 30%

The state may just have some software issues like a blinking envelope

So, you’re saying of the roughly 201,000 deer reported only 66,667+/-, were 100% legal or you saying all GC’s were legal and the total deer killed was 600,000+/-?

Neither, I’m saying we have no clue what real number is, but whatever it is only 30% were legal

when I worked Greene Co my partner and I figured that the illegal kill was as high as 50-75% of the legal kill numbers....and we caught less than 10% of the violations that occurred.

That’s interesting to hear. I guess my point is all this money that’s been spent on game check and SOA’s could have hired more game wardens and we could really start solving some issues. If we cut down on half the illegal kills the season length or baiting wouldn’t put a dent in the population.

Now you making sense.

High percentage of deer killed between the legal cutoff and when it actually gets dark. Not even gonna try to put a number on that. So I guess that would technically be an illegal kill. Even when folks trying to obey the law.

I never worried about borderline too late deer kills, there were always plenty of outright night hunting kills to keep you busy.

Yep. The 5-10 min after legal light are not the issue. It’s the DARK hunters.

I’d bet that statewide about 50% of deer are killed 100% completely legal.

Matt and Troy, I'd agree with both of you on your conclusions, based on being friends with several GWs and wildlife biologists, but you guys do know that you just gave CNC and whole new rabbit hole to think about and run down.

50% ??? Really ? I guess I got more faith in my fellow man than that.

So what are we saying here ? Spot lighting ? So 50% of the deer are killed in the daylight and the other 50% are getting a shinning right before they see that great food plot in the sky ?
Call me what you want I just cant see it. If those numbers are correct, then a good many of the guys on here aint worth spit either.
Somebody agree with me here that it cant be that high can it !!??!! Do I have to much faith in my fellow hunters ?

In Greene there are 3,067 deer checked for 2023-2024. If 50% of that is the illegal number, that's 1,500 which feels crazy high to me.

Then from there if you caught 5% of those that would be 75 illegally harvested deer that you guys caught in the county in a given year.

Across the state that would be 100k or more poached deer. Seems absolutely mind boggling, no?

Source

Since baiting is completely legalized now, I’d say the 50% illegal kills is prob on the high side. Pre-baiting being legal, I’d agree with the 50%.

But 100% completely legal excludes the following kills-

Not game checking within required time frame, not having a bait permit, shooting a doe out of doe season b/c you couldn’t hunt during doe season and really need to thin some out, shooting two doe in a single day b/c who wants to waste a hunt and a trip to the processor on a single doe, shooting a deer 31 min after legal sunset or before legal sunrise (which was legal for years), shooting a deer in season with a rimfire while sqwerl huntin, shooting two bucks in a single day b/c you didn’t kill one yesterday, using a drone to find a bedded deer and stalking it, shooting within 50-yards of the ROW of a public road, dispatching deer after dark that tracking dogs bay, retrieving a deer from 5’ across the property line without obtaining permission first, etc.

Yep….I bet there are a lot of law breakers on here😁

That’s exactly my point and why I believe 70% are illegal

you boys never heard of daytime poaching(hunting w/o permit), road hunting, pre and post season killing of game, no license, illegal weapon, from the river, etc, etc , etc.....?????

Yes of course. Those are blatant violations. But there are a lot of things that are just a little more than the law will allow to quote the Dukes of Hazard theme song. Most people Aren't going to do those things you list but will absolutely shoot one at 31 mins after sunset or one go get a dead deer across the property line, and is why the number is likely so high.

At best it’s 70%. After working LE for a few years I learned real quick that the majority of folks you encounter had rather lie even if they’re not doing wrong than tell the truth. I don’t know why. It’s just what it is. I understand why most LEOs are so inquisitive and seemingly rude to get to the bottom of a situation. It’s simply because they get lied to so often.

Now on to why I believe the legal kill is between 50-70%. Do you really think most hunters are 100% within the law/regulations all the time? I know I’m not and I enforced them for years. Deer are killed while not wearing orange, with illegal weapons, before or after legal light (1 sec is technically illegal, and we’ve ALL done it), across public roads from a stand or blind to where the deer is standing, across a property line, w/o permission, w/o license, w/o baiting permit, from vehicles driving in or out, bayed by a dog and shot after legal hunting hours, non reported kills, kills over the daily bag limit, etc. When you add all of those categories up I promise you there’s no way more than 70% of kills are legal. There’s a lot of folks who hunt that do not follow regs they don’t agree with. Now that I’m not in LE any longer I’m made aware of even more of it through the people I talk to. I used to be very naive and think the majority of folks were well within the law all the time. I was fooling myself and experience has taught me a completely different story.

There are so many regulations , permits, and laws that I would think this would be a conservative number.